A/N: Hey guys! This is AK again with a new chapter. Kudos to all who catch the reference in the chapter title!
Book One
Second Arc: Ab Incunabulis
Chapter 8: Life is a Highway
(A Highway to Hell)
The bus swayed alarmingly.
Nico merely curled up tighter into himself.
To think that he had actually believed that the Universe had given him a break.
Ha-freaking-ha ha.
Ha.
It had started off pretty well.
One rides Apollo's chariot only once in a lifetime, after all.
You could say that he'd been looking forward to it.
And it so happens, that he had an extremely vivid memory of this particular incident.
Apollo had taken to teasing him about it in the other timeline.
(The God had taken great amusement in tearing his reputation to shreds.
Curse him and his selective memory.
But it sent a warm flutter in his heart all the same)
When he was introduced to Apollo the second time, he had taken great pleasure in reenacting history.
His high spirits only soared higher as Percy sat next to him with a small smile.
And as the cheery on top, he had bagged the window seat!
But after that, it seemed like the universe had come back to its senses.
And tried to make up for its temporary lapse of sanity by working over time.
Before he could catch himself, he turned to look at his sister.
And remembered.
She wasn't just his sister anymore.
And, even worse, he realized that Bianca was giving him the cold shoulder.
It smarted.
He could accept what had happened.
It was what had happened last time as well.
It wasn't like he expected the flow of time to change that readily.
And he probably should have expected this, but… Bianca didn't even hesitate before taking her Huntress vows.
Even after she heard his nightmare.
Even after he begged her to think twice.
It hurt in a way that he didn't expect it to.
But that wasn't all.
Nico's nails dug into clenched palms.
He was angry.
He was livid.
His sister had abandoned him.
Again.
Oh, but it didn't stop her from latching onto him as he left the Goddess's tent.
No, she pestered him for details about Lady Artemis in the guise of worrying about his nightmare.
Back then, he was shaken up by the incident, and he couldn't face her barrage appropriately.
His monosyllabic answers (mostly 'huh?') only served to add fuel to her fire.
'Why don't you answer me? Did you make it up? Nico, how could you do that? Do you know how much I was looking forward to this? What do you always have to ruin everything?'-She had suddenly snapped at him before ignoring him completely.
How could she do that?
Did she really think that little of him?
He had only been trying to look out for her.
Argh!
It made him so mad.
Better turn his thoughts to other things.
Oh yeah.
Remember him gushing about Percy sitting next to him?
Yeah, it was because Grover had occupied the seat next to Annabeth, the only seat next to Annabeth, and this one was the next best thing.
So yeah.
Apart from the initial high of the Son of Poseidon sitting by his side, the only fluttery feeling he had in his gut was from vertigo.
Twice a minute, Percy would glance at Annabeth as if she was God's greatest gift to this green earth.
If that alone wasn't bad enough, after a while, Percy started glancing at him too, though not nearly as fondly.
The older demigod had a strange expression on his face.
Apart from the general worry present in everyone's faces, his eyes showed guilt and… wait, was that jealousy?
Oh gods, what now?
Nico followed his line of sight...
He felt like laughing and crying at the same time.
Oh Hades, Percy Jackson, his ex-crush (yes, he was over him, thank you very much), was jealous of him, Nico di Angelo, over Annabeth Chase- Percy's crush and not-yet girlfriend.
All that was needed as a finishing touch, like Annabeth developing a crush on him, or him falling head over heels for Annabeth.
It would be a 'tragic' love triangle worthy of legend.
Please, note the sarcasm.
Fed up with all the drama, he curled to the side and pretended to sleep.
It didn't exactly work, since no one could sleep through the cacophony being created up front.
But they still left him alone.
Mostly.
Grover's piercing screams resounded in his ears as the satyr beseeches Apollo to take the wheel from Thalia.
Nico's half lidded eyes caught on the Sun god, who was hovering anxiously next to the driver's seat where Thalia was attempting to drive the Sun-bus.
The key word being 'attempting'.
It had been a long and exhausting day, and he needed his shut-eye.
He deserved that much after the incident with the Manticore.
He didn't deserve being tossed around like a rag-doll.
To top things off, Apollo had been acting weird.
Well, weirder than usual.
And how exactly did Nico know Apollo's usual spectrum of weirdness you ask?
Well you see, shortly after the Olympus had fallen, Apollo had been found.
He had been mortal and wounded.
It was ironic- his punishment would be the very thing that prevented the Gods from being completely wiped out.
Later, Apollo and Chiron would round up all the surviving minor gods, demigods, Hunters, Amazons, and other supporters of the Gods, and form the Alliance.
Later still, Apollo would (ironically) fall to Python, the monster which he'd defeated as a baby God.
But before all that, there were the beginnings of a Camp.
A Camp that would eventually evolve into the Alliance.
A Camp consisting of the remnants of Greek and Roman demigods alike.
And in this Camp, a new rule was put into practice.
All those who were a part of the Alliance were treated equally.
Whether the member was a God, a mortal, or even in a few rare cases like Tyson, a monster; all lived in the same place, ate the same food, and breathed the same air.
Just as they fought the same war, against the same enemy.
The concept was to create the feel of brothers-in-arms.
The concept was nice enough.
But humans, as they were, were vicious creatures.
And when the unreachable Gods are dragged down to Earth, it's only a matter of time before they were torn apart.
Not even Apollo, the 'Golden Child', would be an exception.
However…
Luckily for Apollo, he was in the company of a little spitfire who went by the name Meg.
And over the course of the war, Nico had reluctantly managed to befriend the unlikely duo.
That was why he was about 79.38% sure that something was bothering the Sun God.
Naturally, there was a 20.17% chance that he had broken up with one of his many lovers and a 0.45% chance that Nico was imagining it.
His musings were cut off as the Sun-bus lurched sideways.
He fell onto Percy, sending both of them out of their seats.
Before he could feel properly embarrassed, they were practically thrown up the narrow aisle as the bus jerked again.
They came to a skidding halt after they hit Grover.
As soon as his world stopped spinning, Percy got off Nico while apologizing frantically to no one in particular.
He dragged Grover away.
The satyr was half conscious and groaning out loud.
Something about enchiladas?
Well… it was nice to know that some people had their priorities straight.
Just as he made to get up, the bus lurched again as Thalia slowed down for no apparent reason.
He was sent flying again, though this time; his journey was solitary and not nearly as pleasantly cushioned.
He was smashed against the back rows with a surprising amount of force.
A sudden jolt of pain rushed through him- Pain where it shouldn't be felt.
And this one hurt far worse than the previous.
He stayed on the floor curling onto one side in a haze.
A pair of sturdy hands pulled his small body off the floor and hauled him onto the nearest empty seat.
"Nico!"
"Hey kid, are you okay?" someone asked worriedly.
Nico tried to answer that no, he was most certainly not alright, but all that he could manage was a rather pathetic whimper.
Oh c'mon!
He'd gotten through worse!
Well, will get through…
"What happened?" Thalia demanded, from the front of the bus.
"Not sure yet."
Something poked his ribs, and the sharp pain made spots dance across his vision.
"As I thought. Broken."
Voices murmured like the buzzing of bees.
Nico would've fallen unconscious if not for Annabeth's steadiness.
Someone put a chewy something in his mouth.
It had a nice, warm taste, something that reminded him a bit of home.
(It tasted like the brownies of New Rome.)
He opened his eyes.
Either Apollo had forcibly taken the steering wheel away from Thalia, or she had given it up in favor of helping him.
Nico had a feeling it wasn't the latter.
Annabeth broke bite sized pieces of ambrosia from a larger slab for his convenience.
Thalia, who was perched in the seat directly in front of him.
"It's impressive, really. You remember your Mythomagic facts even when you're half dead."
What?
He didn't remember saying anything.
"Heh. Well, it seems like he's fine. Feeling better?"
It took him a moment, but he was able to answer.
"Yeah."
There was no use in alarming anyone.
It was just a little skid.
Annabeth frowned.
"Are you sure?" she prodded.
"Well, my head still hurts. And I feel bit dizzy."
Annabeth frowned deeper.
"That's not supposed to happen," she mumbled.
He caught a peek at his elder sister in his peripheral vision.
She was hovering nearby, evidently wishing to help, but unable to do anything productive.
She was wearing an unfamiliar expression that held a good dose of sisterly worry, protectiveness and… something far less pleasant.
The air around Nico was starting to get colder.
Were they gaining altitude?
Or maybe they were slowing down?
But a quick glance outside the window showed him that both guesses were incorrect.
He darted his eyes around, taking note of the other passengers' expressions, but no one else seemed to be perturbed about the change in temperature.
He opened his mouth, just about to comment on the irregularity, when he caught sight of Percy, who was standing to one side- away from the crowd.
Percy shot him a reassuring look.
Seems like the older was back to normal, and okay, no-
Nico felt his cheeks heat up.
But unfortunately, it didn't stop there.
It grew hotter and hotter until Nico's head felt like it was in a furnace.
He vaguely heard Bianca say something.
Suddenly, a cool hand was placed on his forehead.
"Hey Annabeth, I think we should get Lord Apollo's help. He's burning up," said Thalia from her perch in front of Nico.
He thought he heard Annabeth say something about altitude sickness.
It became warmer and warmer still.
Annabeth was still talking to Thalia.
Suddenly, he brought his hand up to clutch weakly at the collar of his shirt.
His eyes slipped closed against his will.
Thankfully, his abrupt gesture caught some attention.
Thalia must have seen something because she had a note of alarm in her voice when she next spoke.
Someone made a strangled noise.
Nico couldn't move.
His hand dropped from his neck.
The muscles in his arm seemed to lack the coordination required to hold it up, and started to spasm weakly.
He felt the world tilt to one side.
'What? Again?' Nico thought incredulously as hurried footsteps ran towards the front of the bus.
It felt like a phoenix was trapped inside his chest. A phoenix that was sapping his strength and doing its best to break out of its confines.
His skin was flushed like he ran a fever, and his chest hurt terribly.
"What's happening to my little brother?" demanded Bianca.
She turned to glare at the people around her when silence was her only reply.
Thalia stepped in and pulled her a little way away from the crowd gathered around Nico.
Though his brain felt like cotton candy, he was able to make out a few words of what Thalia told Bianca.
"…Nectar... almost overdosed… burnt up… accident… worry… lucky… Lord Apollo… will be alright."
Nico felt another pair of cool hands on his burning forehead.
Suddenly, he felt like he had plunged headfirst into a bucket of ice-cold water.
The cold-shock didn't last for long though, and he gasped for air.
He felt a vague feeling of surprise as the hands slowly became warmer and the heat inside him was soothed, like a fire banked by embers.
He felt himself relaxing.
As soon as he was able, Nico cracked open his eyes a bit, and tried to piece together what was happening.
He was able to make out a pair of tan skin and blue eyes past the warm hands that were now against his head.
As the hands became gentler still, the owner of the hands came into view.
It was Apollo.
Oh yeah, the God of Healing.
'He is stabilizing my temperature,' realized Nico, his thought process becoming much less muddled with time.
After a while, he was able to open his eyes fully.
The warm hands left his face and re-appeared at his upper arms, as he slipped sideways, nearly sliding right off the leather seat.
Wait a second.
If Apollo was here and Thalia was there then…
Who was driving the Sun-bus?
His panicked eyes caught on Zoë in the driver's seat.
She focused every molecule of her being on driving the vehicle.
Nico sighed inwardly with relief.
Warm arms gave him up to Bianca.
Nico was sorry to feel them go.
But luckily, Bianca didn't get the hint.
She murmured reassurances while she slid into the seat near the window.
She gently put his head on her lap.
She wrapped her arms securely around his torso and the soft warmth helped him to clear his head.
And then, Nico was back to feeling miserable.
He was tired, exhausted and numb from cold.
Every part of his body had a deep set ache, and he could hardly move.
His hands were twitching.
His nerves were frayed, both literally and metaphorically.
However all these paled in comparison to his heart, which burned worse with each time it beat.
At one point of time, a wave of agony went through his body every time he felt his pulse.
But eventually, the pain started to wane.
Slowly, steadily, it withdrew, and was replaced with a blanket of soul numbing exhaustion.
With lack of other activities, Nico let his still slightly delirious mind wander.
He just needed to catch a train of thought and he could go on for hours.
He cast his eyes about for inspiration.
His eyes caught on his sister's brooch.
He didn't remember seeing it before.
He wondered if one of the Huntresses has given it to her.
It had the number 3 on it, in fancy writing.
The number three was such an important number in Mythology.
There were just so many instances.
But why?
Why was there a Big Three in the Greek Gods?
There could have been a Big Two, or a Big Five, but why three?
It was strange.
There were also three fates, the three Grey Sisters, three sides to a triangle, three points to Poseidon's trident; it took three heroic lives to reach the Isles of the Blest, and the quests commissioned by the Oracle too had three, or multiples of three, members...
If there had been more than that, the extras were killed.
The shadow shrouded areas around him became noticeably darker as he remembered that the quest in which Bianca had died.
He decided it was high time to divert his train of thought.
Come to think of it, it wasn't just in Greece.
It was the same case in the Roman Gods, as Jupiter, Neptune and Pluto.
The Hindu Gods too had Lord Shiva, Lord Narayan and Lord Brahma as the Trinity.
In Christianity they had the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
And- and…
He remembered something that he had read somewhere, a long time ago in the other timeline - Things come best in threes.
Nico realized that he had also come close to kicking the bucket for the third time in just less than twenty four hours.
First with Kronos and the time travel, then with the Manticore and lastly with the near overdose of ambrosia.
Ha ha, he sure had given them a scare with the Manticore, hadn't he?
His mind then wandered to the strange looks he had received.
At this rate he was going to join the freak-show- Oh, what's this?
His eyes had caught onto something strange.
Speaking of things usually coming in threes- Percy. Then Bianca.
Both had given him looks that sent a chill down his spine.
And now.
From his position, Nico was just able to see Apollo's eyes.
Going between him and Bianca with no little suspicion.
Great.
As if he needed the extra trouble.
Preview:
'Much different from what happened here the last time,'
...If only he had been a little faster…
"…People are talking."
...Jason just smiled an odd, sad smile.
"...Is that… lava?"
...He had kept the Apollo healers on their toes...
...And yet again, he fell short.
..."He's a centaur,"
..."I beg your pardon?"
...He was pretty sure his retinas were permanently damaged.
..."The den?" asked Nico.
Time to make some ripples.
A/N: Hey guys! I hope you liked this chapter! I'm not sure when I can update again, since I'll be busy this week and the next. We're also reaching the end of the second arc. The next chapter is the ninth chapter, and the last of this arc.
I will close the poll after the tenth chapter! I will explain why soon enough.
If you'd like to vote, the options are:
Evil army,
Vagabond, and
Unconsciousness.
You can either poll on the profile page, or you can cast your vote in the reviews.
Remember! Every vote counts!
